Thursday, July 23, 2015

Thursday Movie Picks - Sequels

Written for the blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. If you don't already know how to play along, just pick three movies that fit the week's theme and tell us about them. It's so easy!

Sequels, huh? It's tough to make a good sequel. It tougher to make a sequel that's a good film in it's own right. It's EVEN TOUGHER to make a sequel that's a BETTER film than the original. But here are three that did so.

Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004) Not just older and wiser than Before Sunrise, but more elegant. The themes are richer, the dialogue deeper, and the performances more layered. The sequel no one knew they wanted turned out to be one you wouldn't want to live without. And this scene. THIS SCENE. And the ending. That PERFECT fucking ending.

X2: X-Men United (Bryan Singer, 2002) X-Men was fine, but nothing more. X2 pulls the neat trick of expanding the cast of characters (which alone would have made it exciting, especially to X-Fans like me) and tightening up the script at the same time. It's a marvel of comic book/action cinema, and far more resonant - and clever - about its themes than any other X-Film before or since. Also: perfectly cast.

A Shot in the Dark (Blake Edwards, 1964) Only one of the funniest films ever made, and even more amazingly, it's based on a play completely unrelated to The Pink Panther and Peter Sellers's immortal Inspector Clouseau. Sellers is at the absolute top of his game here, and Edwards stages everything to perfection.

BONUS PICK: The Most Underrated Sequel Ever

The Matrix Reloaded (The Wachowskis, 2003) Yes it's not perfect, it's not great, but it's far, FAR better than most people give it credit for, easily one of the best action films of the new millennium. The fight scenes are inventive, and the car chase is one of the greatest ever filmed. Reloaded's biggest sin is focusing on these things at the expense of some fascinating new characters (the twins, Persephone), and a tendency for evil villain monologuing. But those monologues are much more interesting than your average, and delivered by actors who know what they're doing.

A Shot in the Dark is such an inspired choice! Sellers was so completely on target in it that he makes the whole film a delight. X-2 was such a solid follow up to the first too bad they didn't know when to stop. I've never seen Before Sunset since I didn't much care for the first film and am not much of a fan of either Delpy and particularly Hawke though this isn't the first time I've heard its an improvement on the earlier movie so perhaps I'll check it out someday. NOTHING though could induce me to watch anything relating to The Matrix, I detested the first one so much.

My first pick is the fourth in the series but I think they're all considered sequels and its my favorite of the entire run and I reached waaay back for one. My three (and an extra) this week are:

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)-When a probe causes havoc throughout the galaxy the crew of the Starship Enterprise return via time travel to the San Francisco of the mid-eighties in search of a pair of humpback whales to repopulate the species and save the universe! Relying on a blend of humor and nostalgia this is one of the best sequels in the series.

Father's Little Dividend (1951)-In this sequel to Father of the Bride shortly after the wedding of the first film young bride Elizabeth Taylor announces that she is expecting a baby. Everyone one is delighted except granddad-to-be Spencer Tracy who goes into a tailspin. The gist of the film deals with how he works his way through the panic of impending grandfatherhood.

Son of the Sheik (1926)-In his last film before his sudden death at 31 Rudolph Valentino plays a dual role of the sheik from the original film that made him a star and his son who falls in love with Egyptian dancing girl Yasmin, Hungarian silent star Vilma Bánky who looks about as Egyptian as your Aunt Tillie from Pomona, who he is led to believe has betrayed him. Much riding through the desert and sword fights follow, an interesting artifact of a bygone era and a chance to see the man who was at the time the biggest star in the world but not much of a film.

Honorable Mention-Aliens (1986)-In this brilliant kinetic sequel to Alien the recently awakened Ripley, after being in hyper sleep for 57 years, returns to LV-426 with a team of marines when contact with the human colony that has been established is lost. What follows is an action packed fun ride fantastically directed by James Cameron during which Sigourney Weaver could not be tougher and the cast that surrounds her offers terrific support.

I think Sellers is a genius, and Shot in the Dark is probably the best Pink Panther movie because everyone in it was so on top of their game. Helps that the original play is great, but they turned it into one of the most brilliant farces on film.

Give Before Sunset a try. There's a maturity that was somewhat lacking from the first film, which I guess is to be expected given that nine years passed between them. That entire script is just brilliant, and both Hawke and Delpy are better than they've ever been - they're aware, I think, of what makes them irksome, and play to and against that in interesting ways.

Father's Little Dividend is very cute. Not a patch on the original, but love these actors in these roles. I haven't seen any of your others (not even Aliens.... eep!), which I guess I should correct, especially as far as Valentino (SWOON) is concerned. I'm not much of a Trekkie (didn't even particularly like the new ones, despite loving the cast), so that's the one I'm least inclined to seek out.

Love Shot In The Dark! Poor Elke Sommers always being gawked at:) George Sanders keeping a straight face throughout. Great film. I am not into the Matrix films but do enjoy the X-Men series. I would also pick "Father's Little Dividend"-I just love the rapport between Tracy and Taylor. I would be picking "Naked Gun 2 1/2" Yes it is stupid and silly and I love it! Leslie Nielsen is great and Canadian. My 3rd would Be Star Trek: First Contact". The Borg freak me out and to make her creepy yet sexy is just so weird but what a thrill. Seeing Troi get drunk is also a gem

YAY another Shot in the Dark fan! LOVE George Sanders in just about anything and he's just great here. I know the Matrix films aren't for everyone, but I feel the second one in particular gets a bad rap, so I wanted to feature it.

I'm not much of a Trekkie, so I haven't gone near any of those films, but I do need to see the Naked Gun movies. Love Leslie Nielsen in spoof mode.

Yeah, I don't think Reloaded is great cinema or anything, but I think it got a lot of crap that it really didn't deserve. The action scenes (and it IS an action film at its heart) are just completely audacious and totally spectacular.

Before Sunset is the closest thing to true love I've ever seen on film. I prefer it to the first. Haven't seen the third. Really need to. Such "perfection"!!! X2 is great as well. Shit. All the X-Men movies (except the Wolverine spin-offs) are great! I really need to get on some Edwards/Sellers stuff. I've only seen The Party, which is hilarious. Great picks!

I have to be honest. I absolutely despised The Matrix Reloaded. It's one of only three movies in my life that I was so disgusted with I got up and walked out of the theater. That sweaty dance party, sex scene, nastiness turned me off. I felt dirty. In a bad way.

I absolutely love Before Sunset and you picked my favourite scene: the cab ride. There was an instance for each of them when they wanted to touch and comfort and was just too afraid...It was just so brilliant.

About Me

Performer since birth, tap dancer since the age of 10. Life-long book-lover. Film obsessive. Frustrated artist since college graduation. Non-profit database specialist by day, tap teacher by night, Netflix binge-watcher by weekend.